1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to end wraps, and, more particularly to a treated end wrap laminate for use in permanent hair waving.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Permanent hair waving has been in widespread use for many years. In recent years, cold waving has become increasingly popular because of its ease and convenience, which permits consumers the option of waving their own hair without professional assistance. In cold waving, tresses of hair are wound on individual rods or rollers, and a waving solution is applied to the hair which contains a reducing agent to break the disulfide linkages present in the keratin of the hair. The broken disulfide linkages are then permitted to realign themselves while the hair is rolled on the rollers. The hair is then rinsed and neutralized by chemical or air oxidation which rebonds the hair in the new configuration by reforming disulfide linkages.
To facilitate rolling of the tresses of hair on the individual rollers, small rectangular pieces of paper or other similar material known as end wraps are folded and placed around the free ends of the hair tresses just prior to rolling. Although ordinary end wraps function satisfactorily to facilitate rolling of the hair tresses, they tend to collect and concentrate the waving solution, thus over-exposing the ends of the hair tresses. This generally results in undue frizziness, curling, harshness and dryness of the hair ends. Because of this problem, a wide variety of end wraps have been developed to protect the wrapped hair ends from over-exposure to the hair waving solution. For example, ordinary end papers have been impregnated with chemicals which function to neutralize the reducing agent of the waving solution. Other developments rely on physically blocking access of the reducing agent to the hair ends by constructing the end papers from special impervious foamed plastics. A recent innovation utilizes an open celled polyether polyurethane foam which contains a chemical buffer system to neutralize the waving solution reducing agent.
While some of these modified end wraps provide a certain degree of protection for the hair ends, they have not proven to provide reliable and complete protection. In the case of the special foamed plastic end wraps which rely on providing a physical barrier, some leakage can and does occur, especially when the hair is rolled by a novice. The end wraps which rely solely on chemical neutralizers or buffering systems for protection also tend to fail if the application of the waving solution is too generous.
Another problem with the current modified end wraps is cost. Since end papers are not reusable, the use of expensive specialized foamed plastics or complex chemical neutralizers yields a significant increase in the cost of each permanent. In addition, the cost of the protective type of end papers is becoming even more significant in affecting the overall cost of the permanent because of recent changes in hair fashions. For example, the popularity of hair styles with curl in the body of the hair with loose, uncurled ends has led to increasing numbers of "root perms" where the protective end papers are utilized in greater quantities and of various lengths and widths to produce the desired hair style, as opposed to merely protecting the hair ends from damage.
Thus, there is a current need for a protective end paper which not only provides complete and reliable protection but which is also inexpensive and easy to use.